The Assassin's Code
by GeekyZoee
Summary: An assassin who is haunted by his past and doesn't believe he deserves another chance from anyone meets a girl who gives him hope. This is shortly lost when the criminal organisation he works for discovers his new relationship. Find out what he has to go through to save his new found hope, will he break the assassin's code to do so?
1. Chapter 1

As Max walked home, he began to wonder why the walk home seemed longer when you have someone waiting for you. He had his girlfriend to look forward to and all he could think about was her blonde wavy hair, her deep green eyes which sometimes looked grey and her unmistakeable innocent smile. Everything about this man told you he was in love; his love masked his fear of being caught by the very thing he was running away from. The Government… Max and his girlfriend, Chloe finally felt free after running away from the Government centre they were trained to be assassins. The Government set up a fake orphanage and indoctrinated the children into an army; years they kept this secret until all of the children were over the age of 15. They killed everyone the Government didn't agree with and made the public feel the 'full force' of the law. With the power however the Government became cocky and sick with power that the assassins started to rebel within. Ultimately there was a huge fight; everyone was killed apart from five assassins; who decided as a collective, to allow each other to live.

Max and Chloe were one of the survivors; they found an empty house to stay in which is where Max is walking to now. He climbed through the window and entered the house but the atmosphere was strange which worried Max so he started to frantically look for Chloe. Max felt something wet on his hand which was resting on the wall and the wetness was blood. He walked into the bedroom and he saw her. Her blonde hair ruined with blood, blood on her chest from gunshot wounds and blood on the wall which proves she put up a fight. Max thought to himself that it must have been an extremely strong person because Chloe was skilled in fighting. She was an experienced fighter even though she didn't look it; she could throw a knife into the middle of your forehead as if it was a game of darts. Max fell to his knees next to her and just held her but then he saw a note pinned to the ground with a knife. 'We're coming for you 145' the note read. Max knew then that this attack was work from the Government and he ripped the piece of paper in fury.

145 was Max's number; it was like a security key for the Government and it was to ensure that we didn't feel like people but property. There were 200 assassins in total collected over a span of 5 years; he was the 145th to be chosen and Chloe was the 150th. Although, he adopted the name Max 145 Drew later because it was more comfortable and he needed a name for his fake passport. The Government raised Max, taught him everything he knew but not lovingly with a bitter harsh hand. His first memory was lining up when he first arrived at the 'orphanage' and getting 145 tattooed on his wrist on top of his veins.

Max got up immediately knowing he was the next target and packed a quick bag of essentials though he didn't have much in the first place. He changed out of his bloody clothes to retract suspicion and placed a loaded gun in his jacket. He quickly kissed Chloe's head as goodbye and rushed out of the house. Then everything was black and after a twist of handcuffs his hands were restrained. Max struggled and restlessly tried to wriggle out of his restraints but then he was hit hard and beaten by the attackers. Eventually he blacked out.

When he regained consciousness the bag was taken off his head and he was in the presence of thuggish looking people with weapons. One with a silver pistol, another with a new edition revolver and the last with a baseball bat, Max observed and thought it was cliché. After more beating and taunting about how he used to work for the Government but now he is in the hands of the organisation the Government wanted to take down in the first place. The thugs offered him a job at their criminal organisation whose first act was to take down the Government without question he accepted. After accepting however from the beatings he slipped out of consciousness.

Then Max came back to reality realising that it was just a dream, a memory of what happened 6 years ago today. Max inhaled and exhaled lifting his head above the steaming bathwater and ran his fingers threw him hair. Exhale. Max thought to himself; that his water might as well had been acid on his skin it was so hot but he didn't recognise the feeling as pain. Though he admitted it wasn't pleasant but at the same time sickly refreshing. Max regularly had these steaming baths because it made him feel subdued and motionless under the water. His home was the one place that he felt same though he still kept a gun at the foot of his bath because you can never be too careful.

Max had a monologue with himself saying, 'Most people would say I am psychotic being an assassin and sadistic that I view people as a target and that I call what I do a job. For me? It's normal. I've been made to be lethal. I could kill you so quickly you wouldn't even notice you were hit until you were dead. I wasn't just taught how to kill though in the Government centre I learnt Geography, Maths, English, French, Italian, Mandarin and a range of combat. It would be tiresome to list but let's just say I give Jackie Chan a run for his money. Most of the children didn't survive the strenuous regime and died in combat only about 40 of us survived. Then the worse bit came. We had killed dummies and fought against the trainers in practise but then was the real thing… killing real people. That bit was awful and it never gets easier. No one understands that.'

Max traced his finger over the scars he received from training with swords, in the blood bath against the other assassins and the Government. The assassinations had a routine to them; sometimes they would be asked to perform a personal contact kill meaning the target would see them before they killed the target or they would walk pass them on the street and stick a knife into the target's back. This however left witnesses who suffered the same fate as the target. The long range kills were the cleanest not physically but metaphorically because they resulted in less witnesses. That way was subtle and was the preferred choice by most assassins. The last way of killing is the calculated kill; this could take weeks or months to plan every detail needs to be thought through before the assassination is committed. Usually, this is used for an important individual; a president, a drug cartel or an organisation leader for example. Only the best are used for these assignments, Max was asked to kill a drug cartel leader and he planned the kill for a month, killing him eventually by poisoning.

Max sighed and got out of the bath. He had been in there for an hour so the skin on his fingers was wrinkled but after the hour the bath was still steaming off his body. Max thought to himself that he feels sorry for the mirror which rains condensation after his daily baths. He left the bathroom and walked toward his bedroom with his towel rested in his waist. Relaxed, he just lied on his bed looking for another distraction. He decided to light up a cigarette and turn on the TV to delay sleeping. They were reporting about a hit and run in town earlier today; they suspect it was a planned attack. Max turned off the TV not wanting to hear the details of the person he shot today. So he finished his cigarette and lost himself to the inevitable dream that he's had for a while, the same dream every night.

It starts off with him in a car driving somewhere he doesn't recognise and he hears a thud coming from the boot of his car. THUD. THUD. 'Let me out of here! I'll pay you, please' Max gets out of the car wondering why there is a noise coming from the boot of his car and he opens the boot. Inside is a bloody body and they hobble out of the car and run for their life. The picture of pure fear in their eyes and after running about 2 metres away he gets shot dead. Max looks around in shock to see who shot the man and then realising there is nobody around he looks at his own hand. There in his hand is the pistol that ended the dead man's life and embarrassed Max drops the gun. He turns around to close the boot of his car and he sees that his boot is now filled with money. He closed the boot and started driving the car again. As if that wasn't enough, it started raining blood all over the car.

Max wakes up immediently and sees a message on his phone. Max's iPhone has been modified so when the organisation wish to contact him or assign him a mission the screen turns black and in white writing the message appears. Max normally makes notes of the assignment on a separate piece of paper on his bedside table next to his phone. With a touch of the screen the message disappears and it resembles a normal iPhone again.


	2. Chapter 2

Max is given a name of the target or a picture of them, a location and a rating of kill which is a rating of how dangerous it will be. Max doesn't care for the names or what they've done because when you think of them as a human it makes it harder for him to kill. The only information he cares about is the location and the picture of the person which he has to memorise if the target is unknown.

The location he was given was outside 10 Downing Street and yet another politician. The rating of kill is 'highly dangerous' which means that it's going to be hard and I'll need a good exit strategy, Max thought.

Max looked at an online map to find a clear view point for the kill. After a few moments of intense looking; he found an office building with a view of Downing Street on Palace Whitehall road. Satisfied, he texted the address to his driver and got up to prepare for the day.

He swaggered his body to the bathroom, turned the tap on full blast and lit up a cigarette. After the bath, he worked out for a bit as more morning procrastination. He pulled together his suit and tie; standard uniform for an assassin. Though his suit had alterations made, his pockets are deeper to fit his equipment inside. A disassembled Meteor MK6 between the two altered inside pockets and a silenced silverballer in between his butt. It is uncomfortable but it is standard protocol for a mission like this, Max thought. Having a silverballer saved his life in Mexico a couple of years ago.

Max walks to the underground for work like any other person; walking is comforting for him but he does look odd when everyone else is running around. Everyone else is going to their places of work… well running there. Max finds it funny because people always seem to need to be somewhere but he never does.

The day was a cold one and Max thought it was lucky that the organisation base is underground and they prefer if you didn't show up all the time to avoid suspicion. Although Max would rather go alone on the mission; the assignment specified that he needed two people so he needs to go and pick another assassin to aid him.

He enters the underground not actually planning on getting a train dangling his keys for the cleaner's room in his fingers. These keys give him access through the staff entrances which means he doesn't have to pay for anything or go through any metal detectors. He unlocks the room which is actually a lift with his keys; this lift doesn't just go down though. It goes in all different directions to further insure that no one knows how to get to the base and the lift is in complete darkness. After a mixture of turns and twists he arrives but he has to place his finger on the identification panel which lights up when the lift stops for the door to open. There are rumours that if your finger print isn't on the system the lift just drops and results in instant death.

The lift opens and Max walk down the hall after nodding at the security guard who mans the lift. He is greeted at the end of the corridor by Henry; his only friend in the organisation but if asked he would call him an associate. Only because Henry is the definition of useless but surprisingly good company to Max. Every day after work Henry goes to a strip club but not for dances from multiple people but he only goes there for one girl. It's obvious that he likes her but he can't do anything about it because he would break the code. The Assassin's Code…

The code simply states that the whole organisation is to be kept secret at any cost. If an assassin wishes to leave the organisation they are killed or are forced to commit suicide or if an assassin betrays the organisation they are killed. If an assassin tells anyone outside of the organisation about it or what they do for a living then they are dead. Also the organisation forbids relationships as they are distracting and might influence you break the code so for safety measures, both people will be killed. This is why assassins tend to be alone, because it's forced upon them.

'I guess we're up then' Max suggested to Henry.

'Yeah seems it' he shrugged, 'so, what's the plan?'

'Just come along, I might need you as the distraction' Max stated their normal procedure together.

'Sure' he nodded, 'when are we heading out?'

'In half an hour' Max explained, 'the driver will be waiting for us. I got a good view point for it'

'Good' he breathed, 'you want a cuppa?'

'Yeah I wouldn't mind' Max shrugged.

Henry then made a cup of coffee for Max and himself using the tired old coffee machine in the corridor. Max hates the coffee it produces so he usually goes to a café to drink a decent cup of coffee. After what seemed like a few minutes of conversation with Henry a message appeared on Max's phone saying that his driver is ready for them. Max and Henry walk toward the lift not looking at anyone when they leave because no one in the organisation really talk to each other; even the male and females assassins are separate. Henry makes the effort to talk to others with futile results apart from a newcomer to the business, James. He's young and naïve; in Max's opinion he is living in a world where assassins are like James Bond but in reality we are more like the people James Bond kills.

Max's driver is one of the top and high speed drivers in the business which is why Max feels safer in his company. His driver always wears black sunglasses to match the blacked out windows of the car so neither henry or Max know what he looks like. Henry and Max sit at the back of the car, the engine starts and they set off reaching 60 miles per hour within seconds.

'Agents, how are you today?' the driver asks.

'I've been good,' Henry answers absentmindedly.

'Good. So who is the target today?' He asks. Max doesn't understand why his driver always tries to make small talk; because he swears he can tell that assassins sicken him but he is loyal because of fear and guilt. Mostly fear because it isn't wise to piss off an assassin.

'A politician… again.' Max answers coldly which ends the small talk.

After the awkward journey there, Max and Henry get out at the office building with the view of Downing Street. Max thinks idly to himself that they will fit in because everyone else is wearing suits as well. They walk towards the stairs because the lifts are more controlled and normally have CCTV cameras. Then they are stopped by a heavy built security guard.

'Where are you ID cards?' The security guard grumbles, 'I've never seen you before…'

'Oh excuse me, let me get it out now' Henry says politely and reaches for his inside pocket walking forward slightly. He pulls out his handgun and shoots the guard in the chest silently killing him so quick that he falls straight to the ground.

'Nice ID card' Max scoffs to Henry.

They drag the guard to the inside of the stairway door; leaving him slumped near the bottom step. Then swiftly move up the stairs, for the roof. Busting through a few doors on the way they make it to the roof with the perfect view to kill. Henry brings out his shotgun to guard the roof door and Max starts to assemble the Meteor gun. Max positions the gun and looks through the lenses waiting for the target to present itself.

Max lights up another cigarette in the meantime but still keeps his eye focused outside 10 Downing Street.

'So what did this one do?' Henry asks lighting up his cigarette.

'I don't know' Max sighs, 'I don't bother checking anymore.'

'Fair enough' he carried on smoking his cigarette. 'Look the door is opening'

Max places the cigarette on the floor and suspends his finger over the trigger. The target exits the building and stands to take pictures with the President. This is where Max squeezes the trigger and in the next second the target is dead with one bullet to the head. The media go crazy and bodyguards swarm around protecting the President.

Max disassembles the gun and blows it up as guns are traceable although they wouldn't find him on the system. He only blows it up because it is common practise but the explosion reveals where they are so they need to make a move.

Going through the main building is too risky so they scale down the side of it to the nearest window and swing into it crashing the window into a million pieces. Henry follows after Max. The floor they break into is empty luckily apart from someone hiding under the desk. As the mission is highly dangerous leaving witnesses isn't an option so Max retracted his gun from his butt and in two shots the man was dead. The first breaking through the desk his was hiding in and the second right through his head. Henry and max put on their black sunglasses and flew down the stairs with their silverballers in hand ready to illuminate witnesses. At the ground floor the dead guard meeting them creating a pool of blood on the floor. They put their guns back in pockets and walk out of the building as casually as possible. Everyone is in total panic, they are outside and running around in fear so Henry and Max push their way through the crowd. Then climb into the back of the car and the race begins.

At first no one follows but after a road or two a siren starts to pry in on them. Their car speeds up and manoeuvres in and around roads widening the distance between the police and them. Trouble hit when they reach traffic on Hungerford Bridge but Max had planned an escape if they got trapped on the bridge. The car swings out of control and hits the edge of the bridge. During this time Henry, their driver and Max jump out of the car and dive into the water. They are all trained to be able to hold our breath underwater so this is standard procedure for them.

They swim across the water as the police still on the bridge look down in defeat and shout commands into their radios but this is attempt is weak. They fire but all miss as the assassins escape into another car without a number plate. This car is as traceable as the assassins are… untraceable. Their driver speeds down the road and drives out of the sight of police and another mission is complete.


	3. Chapter 3

Back in the organisation base Henry and Max are drinking coffee as if they aren't currently the most wanted by the police. The TV near them is on and of course the latest news is that a 'terrorist organisation' has assassinated another politician in the same party and how they escaped from the police. Max can tell that Henry feels guilty because he turns of the TV and looks at Max disappointedly. Max tried to lift Henry's spirits by suggesting that they go to a strip club which is essentially code for do you want to see Lucy his complicated girlfriend.

'Yeah' Henry put his coffee in the bin even though it wasn't finished yet, 'I could do with a proper drink'

'I agree' Max concurs, 'this is liquid shit'

At the strip club, Max lights up another cigarette and Henry looks around for Lucy. While he is looking for Lucy another stripper walks towards Max and wraps herself around his body.

'Hey you' the stripper whispered seductively into Max's ear. 'You want a dance?'

Max sighs but agrees, 'how much?'

'£40 to start with and then £10 every 5 minutes' the stripper says losing the seductive tone in her voice.

'Here's £100, I don't have change but just give me what £50 would be worth' Max compromised.

'That's kind of you' the stripper purrs into Max's ear, 'you're not married are you?'

'No, no just generous' Max winked at the stripper.

'I like the generous ones' the stripper replies and starts to dance sexually around Max.

Lucy had walked over to Henry and they greeted as if they have never met before because it's safer for both of them.

'You want a dance, handsome?' Lucy asked Henry.

'Yeah' Henry winked at her, 'I'll give you £1,000 to stay with me the whole night' Max wasn't surprised that Henry was giving away that much considering we were paid £5,000 for our mission today.

The stripper with her legs around Max's neck was watching Lucy and Henry, 'you're not as generous at him'

Max laughed and took that as a challenge, 'I'd give you that much but it's in my car'

'I was only joking' the stripper laughed easily manoeuvring out of her position. 'I couldn't take that much off you'

'Okay' Max accepted, 'I have to go now'

'What about the rest of the dance?' the stripper asked.

'It was really nice but I think I'm going to go' Max reached for the rest of the money in his pocket which was about £100 more and gave it to the stripper then left. On his way home, he was walking he felt a tap on his shoulder and he cocked his head to find it was the stripper from the club.

'You can't just give a woman this much money and leave' the stripper accused Max, 'it's rude you know'

'Well I don't want to be rude' Max took the stripper's coat and wrapped it around her, 'I'll walk you home then?'

'Okay' the stripper agreed.

On the walk to the stripper's house; she told Max about her life and her family but avoided talking about her job. When they were nearly there she suddenly felt emotional and when Max asked her what was wrong she mentioned what was prying on her mind.

'It's just what I do, don't get me wrong I like my job but it's impossible to be in a relationship so I dance for all these men and make them happy but no one ever tries to make me happy' she blubbered, 'you're a good man Max'

'How do you know my name?' Max asks ignoring her compliment because he believed he wasn't a good man. She just believed he was a good man because he gave her money and listened to her but that's only because Max has enough money and he likes to hear about other people it interests him.

'I heard your friend say it' she said showing chagrin on her features. 'I'm Sarah by the way'

'Hmm' Max replied.

'This is also my house… well my apartment. I share it with the stripper that your friend was generous to' Sarah continued.

'You live with Lucy?' Max asked rhetorically.

'Yeah, you know her?' she asked but then answered her own question, 'well you know her boyfriend so I guess you know her. See that's what I mean by complicated relationships because of work'

'Exactly' Max agreed knowing that Henry's work was more the reason than Lucy's.

Sarah embraced Max and whispered, 'thank you Max' into his ear but when she pulled away from his she leaned forward again to kiss him.

Max and Sarah's lips crushed together and moulded together for a while but then Max pulled away from her keeping his hands around her waist.

'I can't… I'm sorry' Max then turned towards the road and slowly walked across it and continued walking down the road not looking back until he had reached the end of the road and by that time Sarah had gone inside.

Max neared his house but carried on walking past his house and decided to see if his favourite café was open even though it was just past midnight. He reached the shop and not to his surprise it was closed; Max sighed and angrily walked back to his house. Clouded with frustration he bumped into a woman, he turned around and was breathless when he saw her she was beautiful. 'I'm sorry' Max apologised but caught a glimpse of the polystyrene cup in her hand with a Starbucks logo and the name Grace on the neck of the cup, 'where did you get your coffee?'

Grace raised one eyebrow and answered, 'The Starbucks down the road…' She had an American accent and was looking at Max sipping from her cup, 'it's a cappuccino but Starbucks sell coffee too'

Max smiled awkwardly, 'Sure, er thanks' then he turned around and walked towards the Starbucks.

Sipping his coffee Max started to reminisce on his day; he had killed a man in the morning, got a dance and kiss from a stripper and bumped into a girl that brought him to Starbucks. What a strange day, Max thought to himself while walking out of the Starbucks. On his walk home he lit up a cigarette and contemplated whether he would regret having coffee before planning on going to sleep.

When Max was at home in bed he did regret having the coffee as it fuelled his bloodstream and held his eyes open but he didn't regret meeting the girl with the Starbucks cup. Max thought about whether he regretted meeting Sarah and couldn't stay awake long enough to reach an answer.

Max woke up with a message on his phone telling him to kill a Samuel H. Liner who he had never heard of before and the location was a road meaning it was a hit and run attack with a rating of 'dangerous'. Routinely Max searched Samuel and found a newspaper article about him it turns out that he was an assassin and informed the police that there was an upcoming attack on the president. Max understood why he would be on the organisation's hit list; Max called henry and told him about it but Henry didn't know him either. Max texted his driver to bring the car without a number plate because hit and runs are dangerous but with Max's driver he wasn't worried.


	4. Chapter 4

Max chose two silverballers for the mission today and walked to the meeting point agreed by his driver and himself. They never meet at Max's house because Max wants to keep his house safe, even Henry hasn't seen Max's house or knows its whereabouts. The meet up point was in an alley a few minutes' walk away from Max's house it was sketchy but at least it was private. Max climbed into the back of the car and loaded the guns; the sound of the guns made Max's driver shiver, Max noticed this but didn't stop.

His driver tried to make conversation with Max to drown out the sound of the guns being loaded, 'So Max… you look like shit, what happened?' Max taken aback by his approach to conversation broke his façade and laughed. Max thought it was funny that you would insult a man with a gun, not one but two loaded guns.

'Thanks, I had a late night' Max smirked looking at his driver through the wind mirror.

'I didn't know you were the type' his driver said laconically.

'I'm not it was a weird night…' Max trailed off.

'Hmm' his driver didn't ask for any more information; changed the subject 'Who's the target today?' he asked as casually as if he were asking for salt.

'Samuel Liner? He was an assassin but then he gave information to the police and here we are' Max joked but his driver seemed to have lost his spirit. 'Did you know him or something?'

'I used to drive him for a while' he sighed. 'Here's the road he's on'

'Okay' Max wound down his window and straightened up against the back of the seat concealing him from his target. The car slowed down nonchalantly to the untrained eye but a trained eye would know that the car slowly down was like a tiger sizing his prey ready to pounce. The car neared Samuel as he was knocking on the door of a house and as he waited for the occupant to answer Max shot him dead. Two shots were fired; once in the head with one silverballer gun and another in his back with the other silverballer gun. All of it happened so fast that; in the same second Samuel flopped to the ground, the car sped off leaving him on the pavement; dead.

After a couple of minutes driving in silence, Max's driver broke the silence with a question, 'do you ever feel bad afterwards?'

'Honestly… no because the more attached you get to a target the harder they are to kill and to me this is just another job' Max answered coldly staring out of the window.

'Why don't you just leave this business? Find yourself a girl and-'

Max cut the driver off knowing where his sentence would trail off to, 'you know I can't do that! Even if I met a girl, they wouldn't- you say what happened to Samuel' Max started thinking about the stripper from last night but then his mind strayed to the girl who showed him where Starbucks was with Grace on her polystyrene cup. 'I think I'll get off here…'

The driver took the next turn and abruptly stopped sending Max jolting forward, Max thought maybe he hit a nerve mentioning Samuel but exit the car slamming the door behind him anyway. Find yourself a girl, Max let the words bounce around in his head and then he thought about the wrath of the organisation he works for and shuddered.

His phone vibrated and a message had appeared on his phone, 'Target: Edward McMillian the current UK president, Location: G8 Summit at Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland, Date: 3 weeks from now, rating of kill: extremely dangerous and Personnel number: 3 assassins. Max touched the screen causing the message to disintegrate and disappear; Max walked in silence on his way to his house already beginning to calculate.

At home Max started to research about the resort and who would be attending the occasion he began to understand why the rating of kill was extremely dangerous. The event was a meeting between eleven presidents each will be protected by at least three bodyguards but with the current threat on President McMillian he will be the most protected. The resort is a five star hotel which each president will be spending the night before the Summit in; Max thought about the possibilities in the vulnerability of the president at night. Max also found out that some reporters who could afford it were spending the night there; Max noted on a piece of A3 paper.

Hours passed and the paper began to decorate with schemes and plans of how he'll pull of the kill not missing a single detail with his notes an amateur could make the attack. Through fatigue Max accidentally clicked on a page describing President McMillian the article was about how he inherited his fame it was mostly negative but then Max read about his family life and found out he was a dad with two children. Max in acerbically rolled his eyes and shut his laptop closed with force. Breathing heavily he lay on his bed and forced sleep to take over.

Max woke up the ceiling above him scintillating as the sun shone on it, he moved into an upright position and his eyes darted to the piece of paper on the floor with all his plans on it. He read through it and decided he needed to meet with his information guy to find out how he could meet a reporter attending the G8 Summit. He grasped his iPhone in his hand and dialled the local mechanics.

'Hello this is-' the receptionist was curtly cut off.

'Cut the crap, it's Max' Max said rudely, 'Get Frank on the phone'

There was a silence as the receptionist transferred the phone to Frank, 'Max, what can I do for you?'

'I just want to meet you… the Starbucks in an hour?' Max suggested by his tone Frank didn't have a choice.

'Sure, make yourself look pretty' Frank laughed.

'I'm always pretty Frank, always' Max joked.

An hour later Max was in the Starbucks ordering a coffee and to his right in the corner on a small circular table was Frank. Frank was an older man who from the outside looked old and defenceless but he was lethal and has taken down two guys at a time. Max's coffee was handed to him and he walked over to Frank sitting next to him.

'I admit you do look pretty' Frank laughed into a cough.

Max hugged Frank from the side with one arm and sat back, 'I always look pretty but you look… exceptional'

'It must be nice having me as your only friend' Frank laughed.

'You're not that special Frank' Max sipped his coffee but put it down because it nearly burnt his tongue.

'That stuffs hot!' Frank warned watching Max breathe in air to subside the burning on his tongue.

'Now you tell me' Max continued to struggle.

'It's funny you can take down an army of men but hot coffee you can't handle' Frank said sardonically. 'Well everyone has a weakness'

Max then lifted up the still burning cup and began to gulp the fiery coffee down but then stopped, 'coffee isn't that weakness'

Frank blinked astonished at Max's insanity so changed the subject to the matter in hand, 'so what information do you need?'

Max took a deep breath and explained, 'I want to find out how I can get to a reporter going to the G8 Summit or more importantly how do I get the ID card of a reporter going to the G8 Summit'

Frank thought it over, 'the question isn't how to get there ID card it is how to get there security card; their ID card only gets them a position with the other media crew but their security card gets them in'

Max nodded his head, 'okay so how do I get my hands on their security cards?'

'For security reasons they are sent via post and they need a signature to be accepted at the door but that's not your problem all the reporters know each other and a new face will circulate suspicion' Frank thought about it more and brought out his iPad then started searching through articles, emails and other sources. Max thought to himself that his iPad has been tampered with because you couldn't find this kind of information on Google.

'Ahh' Frank exhaled, 'there's a new reporter attending the Summit, his name is George Miles and he has dark hair so you could pull him off, probably. It says here he has a daughter and son, his daughter is 18 and apparently…' Frank continued to search through information on his daughter, 'she likes to party at a club called Oz, she goes almost every Saturday'

Max thought through the information, 'thank you, I'll get to her father through her'

'I assume you will' Frank laughed.

After Frank left, Max stayed to have another coffee and read his old copy of Great Expectations. This was Max's attempt of distracting himself from the mission because he knows from experience that overthinking a mission can make the brain careless. Max's eyes strayed above his book slightly looking past it and he saw returning his gaze the girl who showed him to the Starbucks he was drinking his coffee in. He racked his brain for the girl's name and it came to him after a moment, Grace. Her name was on the coffee she was holding when they last met; Max could see her clearer now. Her eyes were a shiny green, her hair was a dark auburn and a smile was curving her lips while she stared at him. She was as beautiful as he remembered.


	5. Chapter 5

Grace with her coffee cupped in her hands started trailing off to the door Max's eyes followed every step she took and Grace was aware of his stare and was smiling. Grace hesitated before opening the Starbucks door looking at Max and back to the door but Max's face wasn't inviting because he didn't know how to facial suggest that she should join him. Max thought it would be better if she didn't sit down with him and looked back to his book. Grace opened the door and shut it behind her, Max looked through the window to watch her leave but she was stood outside with a man. A pang of jealousy mixed with anger shot through Max's body but he continued to look at them. The man had his hands gripped around Grace's arms and was shouting at her but it was more of a pleading shout but Grace still didn't look happy. She looked frightened and was arguing back but he would interrupt her every time she spoke.

Grace's eyes fell down as the man spat abuse at her and for a moment her eyes met Max's teary and pleading; Max had seen enough and stood up heading towards the door in an irate rage. Max swung open the door interrupting what the man who had a baseball cap on, worn black jeans and sleeve tattoos. Max didn't vacillate to push the man off Grace and position himself between the pair.

'I think you should leave her alone' Max said with a chilling acidity.

'This isn't any of your business, pal' the man tried to reason with him then looked to Grace, 'do you know this clown? Have you replaced me already… you - you whore'

'I think you should go… that's no way to talk to your girlfriend… even if you're arguing. You need to calm the fuck down' Max said with authority.

'He's not my boyfriend anymore…' Grace's cheeks flushed the colour of her hair.

A smile flashed across Max's face which he composed within a second, 'well I guess you should hit the road… pal'

Max saw the man consider a confrontation with a flicker in his eye but looking back at Grace made him deflated and he backed off muttering profanities on his way.

'Are you okay?' Max asked Grace concerned.

'Yeah everyone has a crazy ex and he's just mine' Grace laughed.

'He seemed angry so I thought I'd step in' Max smiled smugly.

'My knight in shining armour, thank you. How can I ever repay thee?' Grace joked.

'Let me walk you home?'

'You don't even know my name?' Grace smiled still joking.

'It's on your Starbucks cup' Max pointed to the name on her cup, 'it's Grace'

'Mhhmmm, the Starbucks I showed so credit goes to me on that one' Grace started to walk and Max followed. 'What's your name then? You look like a John or a Joseph'

'I'm… Max' Max walked beside Grace, 'so you're American?'

'Hmm, you don't seem like a Max' Grace thought but continued 'yeah, I'm here for a year or two just here to study and stay with friends for a while' Grace explained and Max began to wonder whether he was easy to talk to because of the two women who have told them about their life.

'Don't underestimate the name Max, Grace' Max smiled to himself as he had never thought of himself as anything other than a Max. 'How many friends do you live with?' Max asked wanting to find out more about Grace.

'If you think that this is going to end with you 'meeting' my friends, you're wrong' Grace raised one eyebrow suggesting there is a double meaning to the word 'meet'.

'No, no, I'm just trying to find out more about you' Max laughed, 'you seem interesting'

'Good interesting?' Grace sipped her coffee looking up at Max who was a couple of inches taller than she is.

'Yeah, you're the good type of interesting' Max smiled and nudged her gently with his elbow.

'So, are you interesting? What do you do?' Grace asked friendly but looked at Max awkwardly tense faced and decided to change the subject, 'err, this is my house er apartment. Thanks for dropping me off'

'No problem… and I'm not all that interesting y'know' Max coughed after he finished the sentence.

'I don't believe you' Grace smirked at Max as if she could see right through him and opened the door to her apartment.

I wish this night had ended the way his night with Sarah did, Max thought looking at the closed door to Grace's apartment. Max vacillated before turning around and walking towards his house; each step he took he wished he was with Grace. The only thing from keeping him back was the thought of his job and how Grace would hate and fear him if she knew what he did for a living. So Max walked and walked, passed his house and towards the strip club he was in a couple of nights before. He stopped outside the club and willed himself inside; the first thing he saw was Sarah and Lucy wrapped around Henry and James. James the newcomer at the organisation, had a huge smile on his face as Sarah ran her fingers in his hair seductively and Max felt something strange at the moment. Sarah's face and hand dropped as she met Max's judging gaze and Max spun around and stormed out of the club. Max knew he felt irate and jealous but he didn't know why so he just began to walk again.

'Wait! Max' Sarah shouted running after Max's swift walking pace. 'Wait, please'

Max stopped at waited for Sarah to catch up with him when she did; she embraced him from the back to stop him from moving again. Max didn't respond and his expression was blank, 'you didn't need to come running after me'

'I know I didn't have to but I wanted to' Sarah's voice was cracking, 'I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to see any of that'

Max opened his mouth to respond but didn't say a word instead he forced his way out of her embrace and turned to face her, 'I'm sorry too'

'It's my job Max, I have to do it' she said wrapping her hands around her body to stop her from freezing.

'I know, you should go back inside' Max smiled crookedly and walked away from leaving Sarah behind him.

When Max got home he laid in bed, sighed at the empty space next to him and fell asleep. That night Max had the same reverie that was previously haunting him and it ran as it did the nights that he had it before. This time the man who ran out of his boot before being shot by Max was a woman and he couldn't see her face but he saw her auburn hair which blew in the winds. Max winced as he waited for his dream self to shoot the woman but he didn't; he just watched her scurry away. Usually at this point of the dream Max would wake up startled but instead he only shrugged himself awake just before his rang.

He stretched for his phone answering it after slight hesitation; it was Henry, 'hello Max?'

'Yeah…' Max groaned his voice bring rough due to the fact it was morning.

'It's about the job and other things' Henry sighed seeming tired himself, 'we just need to talk, can I come to yours?'

'Err… best to meet somewhere public, how about the McDonalds near the train station?' Max suggested no wanting anyone to enter his house, his private world of peace and thought.

'Yeah okay' Henry seemed hesitant and Max knew there was something that he was keeping from him.

'Is there anything else?' Max asked trying to press him.

'Well, James is going to be there and I don't want it to be weird' Henry mumbled.

'It won't be, this is business' Max said coldly, 'and tell James not to worry about yesterday…'

Henry waited wanting Max to speak more but when he didn't he just resulted in saying, 'alright, bye then'

Max hung up the phone with no response and sighed thinking why he was so harsh to Henry but dismissed the thought because he needed a cigarette.


End file.
